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Don’t Send Me No More Letters No – The Great “Should Superman Spank Lois Lane?” Debate of 1960

In this feature I spotlight responses that amuse me for whatever reason by Mort Weisinger to letters fans wrote in to the Superman family of titles back in the 1950s and 1960s. Here is an archive of past installments.

In this latest installment, we examine a debate in the Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane letters column over whether Superman should spank Lois Lane. Yes, this is a real thing that happened in this reality.

Recently, I did a bit on how spankings seem to pop up now and then in superhero comics. One of the examples was Superman’s Girl Friend, Lois Lane #14, where Lois comes up with a scheme to get stuck behind in Superman’s Fortress of Solitude so she can prove to Superman that she can make it a home for the two of them. While there, she gets abused by one of Superman’s robots…

Later, we learn that Superman knew of her plan all along and was just messing with her…

Not cool, Superman, not cool.

Or IS it?

You see, a few issues later, in the letter column of Lois Lane #20, a reader wrote in to say that he felt that it was high time for Superman to give Lois Lane the spanking she so richly deserves…

The matter is settled, right? Wrong!

Four issues later (thereby extending the debate just barely into 1961), a new voice of dissent emerges!

Oh, comic book fans, never change!

I love how this is so similar to modern internet commenting, right down to the letter writer almost assuredly making up both the existence of the club and the results of their vote. I recently saw the most hilarious example of this type of thing the other week when someone on the CBR forums told this absurdly and obviously fake story of their children’s negative reaction to the new Superman film.

Thanks to reader George B. for sending me a link about this from the great Pat Curley’s Silver Age Comics site. I used Pat’s scans of the letters because his copy of Lois Lane #24 is in better shape than mine. Thanks, guys!